{"id":870340,"date":"2026-08-14T16:13:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870340"},"modified":"2026-08-14T16:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T14:37:54","slug":"united-states-quietly-gives-massive-relief-to-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/870340\/united-states-quietly-gives-massive-relief-to-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"United States quietly gives South Africa a big win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States Senate has quietly approved a two-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), moving to keep it in place until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This follows a late extension to the programme in February 2026, which allowed the trade deal to continue until the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The February extension came almost five months after the Act lapsed in September 2025, and applied retroactively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new extension will ensure that a similar lapse doesn’t occur again, aiming to keep AGOA in place until the end of the current US presidential term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill<\/strong><\/a> will now proceed to the House of Representatives for concurrence before it is sent to US President Donald Trump for assent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the bill approved by the US Senate only changes the end date of AGOA from 2026 to 2028 and makes no other changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that all 32 countries\u2014including South Africa\u2014are still part of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a significant boon for South Africa, which has had an icy relationship with Washington under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AGOA was first enacted in 2000 to provide duty-free access to the US market for eligible Sub-Saharan African countries, covering more than 1,800 products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To qualify for AGOA\u2019s duty-free treatment, countries must establish or make continual progress toward establishing a market-based economy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, countries must eliminate barriers to US trade and investment, enact policies to reduce poverty, combat corruption, and protect human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s these terms and conditions that have often brought South Africa’s participation in the Act into question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa under the spotlight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 22% of South African exports to the US benefit from AGOA, resulting in billions of dollars in trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estimates suggest that half a million South African jobs are dependent on AGOA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, South Africa has been criticised by the US government for its economic and political policies, which are seen as acting against US interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes BEE requirements for US companies operating in South Africa and concerns over property rights due to laws such as the Expropriation Act<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the AGOA extension is expected to pass in the US House of Representatives and become a reality, it does not preclude South Africa from being booted from the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, two separate but similar bills have been introduced in the US Senate and the US House to do exactly this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both introduced in 2025, the bills explicitly call for a review of the United States’ relations with South Africa, including the country being booted from the AGOA programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bills state that the programme should include only countries aligned with US interests, with Republican politicians behind the proposed laws arguing that South Africa would not qualify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first bill, the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act (H.R.2633)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was tabled in the House of Representatives April 2025 by Ronnie Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second bill, called the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act (S.2752)<\/strong><\/a>, was tabled in the US Senate in September 2025 by Senator John Kennedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both argue that South Africa’s close and friendly relations with “America’s enemies”\u2014being Russia, China and Iran\u2014disqualify the country from enjoying the beneficial US programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bills also call for individual sanctions against South African government officials and members of the African National Congress found to be acting against US interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the AGOA extension bills, however, neither of the South Africa-specific bills has made any progress since being introduced, indicating a lack of appetite or bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar bills were introduced during the first Trump presidency and also failed to gain any traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bill that has been passed by the US Senate extending AGOA can be read below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n